Sumo wrestling
New allegations surface
Japan’s scandal-tainted national sport of sumo wrestling is facing new allegations that senior wrestlers used cellphones to plan how to fix matches. Japanese media reported yesterday that police have found suspicious text messages on several wrestlers’ cellphones suggesting they were planning to fix bouts and going so far as to detail how one would attack and how he wanted his opponent to fall. The text messages, found on the phones of wrestlers in sumo’s second-highest division, indicate that the wrestlers routinely fixed bouts and charged hundreds of thousands of yen per match to do so, Japan’s Kyodo news service said. Several wrestlers were arrested last year for betting illegally on baseball games, allegedly with gangsters as go-betweens. Kyodo said the text messages this time were found on phones confiscated when police were investigating the baseball gambling ring.
Soccer
Ex-minister joins Black Cats
Former British Foreign Secretary David Miliband was named non-executive vice chairman of Premier League club Sunderland on Tuesday. Arsenal fan Miliband, who is the Labour Party MP for the neighboring constituency of South Shields, had talks over the role with Sunderland chairman Niall Quinn last month. Reports suggest he will be paid a £50,000 (US$80,000) salary and Quinn said: “We are delighted and honored to welcome David to Sunderland and I am certain he can bring an extra dimension to us as a club. He is already a great champion of our ethos of community involvement and will be a fabulous asset on this front. Adding David to our board in a non-executive capacity provides us with someone who possesses a different spectrum in envisaging how the club can grow.” Miliband lost out to his brother, Ed, in the battle to become Labour leader after last year’s general election.
Soccer
Blanc ignores minister’s call
France coach Laurent Blanc says he will call up whoever he wants for next week’s friendly against Brazil, despite a call from his country’s sports minister for a ban on the players who went on strike at last year’s World Cup. Blanc told regional newspaper Midi Libre that Chantal Jouanno had the right to her opinion on the matter, but added that he remained “totally free” in his choices. France’s players were accused of being a disgrace to their country after going on strike at last year’s tournament. They boycotted a training session in protest at Nicolas Anelka being sent home by team management after his profanity-laced tirade against then-coach Raymond Domenech during a 2-0 loss to Mexico.
Soccer
Lazio halt Milan title charge
Lazio produced a spirited rearguard action to hold Serie A leaders AC Milan to a 0-0 draw at the San Siro on Tuesday. Lazio came into the match in third place in the league and knowing that a defeat would almost certainly rule them out of the title running and although the hosts dominated throughout, with Zlatan Ibrahimovic hitting both posts with a single shot, they could not find a way through the Romans’ stubborn resistance. Massimiliano Allegri, the Milan coach, said his side had deserved to come away with three points. “We rushed too much in the first half, Lazio defended very well but they didn’t have a single shot on goal,” he said. “We had several good chances, especially Ibra hitting the posts. The lads played a good game and deserved the win but this is football.”
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was